It is difficult to imagine a world of pop culture villains without Darth Vader.
The masked and cloaked figure now casts perhaps the longest shadow of any film character on popular culture. When Vader first appeared on screen in 1977, audiences recognised something elemental, and reportedly did something that hadn’t been done since the days of Vaudeville and silent cinema: instinctively, they hissed.
One look at Vader and you recognise a cinematic villain. Beyond the visual, every element of Vader builds the perfect bad guy. There’s that voice, provided by James Earl Jones, who died today at age 93. There are the lines – “I am your father”. Then there’s that theme tune by John Williams, a piece of music so well loved that it’s often forgotten that it wasn’t written until the second Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.
